After a moment of calm, the newcomer was obviously surprised at how Xu Renjie knew their situation outside and immediately looked around vigilantly.
After confirming that there was no threat, the man finally spoke up: "Since you can see our situation, you should know that with our equipment, entering your village is completely no problem at all."
"Is this supposed to be a threat? If so, then I can clearly tell you that we’ve survived in the apocalypse until now and have rooted ourselves in this place, naturally not afraid of anyone coming here to provoke us. If you think a few automatic weapons and heavy machine guns will make us bow down, then you’re really naive."
Undoubtedly, Old Xu doesn’t have the capital to confront the other side.
But warfare has always been about strategy.
What did Zhuge Liang rely on when he dared to single-handedly borrow ten thousand arrows from Cao Camp with just a small boat? It was extraordinary bravery and understanding of Cao Cao’s mind.
Old Xu is just like that; his battlefield experience has made him familiar with grasping the situation and human psychology.
He knows very well the mentality of people on the battlefield. Indeed, the other side currently holds the active combat power. They made it clear that if they attack strongly, our side would be unable to resist.
But if that’s the case, why does the other side choose to shout outside and hesitate to make a move?
Xuan Zhanxiao doesn’t think this is a "display of goodwill" from the other side; on the contrary, Old Xu sees this as the other’s apprehension.
And once there is this level of apprehension, Old Xu has the capital to negotiate with the other side strategically.
As for his earlier exaggeration of combat force, it was just to add some solid weight to this newly gained capital.
Sure enough, after Old Xu’s threatening words, the convoy fell into silence once more.
But only for a dozen seconds before the man spoke again: "Brother, no need to be so tense, I said we have no ill intent."
"Sorry! In this world, people’s minds are unpredictable; you come to our base with guns and artillery, don’t tell me you were just passing by for a look."
Old Xu maintained a strong stance; he knows that at this time, no matter the circumstances, he must not appear cowardly. The stronger you are, the more the opponent cannot figure you out, making them more hesitant to act rashly.
The opposite is true: If you show weakness, you fall right into their trap.
"Haha, what do I have to say for you to believe me? Brother, you were correct earlier - we really were just passing by this place and decided to stop when we saw a village."
"Oh, really!? That’s quite a coincidence! You’ve looked, so what’s your next plan?"
"Hoo~ I’ll be honest with you, we’re military personnel, and while passing through at night, we wanted to borrow a place to stay here if possible?"
Upon hearing this, Old Xu was at a loss for a moment; he glanced sideways at Shen Lian on the opposite side of the wall.
"What did you say!? You’re military personnel?"
"That’s right! We’re military personnel! Your people should be able to see."
"They’re wearing military uniforms!" the hand-held radio transmitted Hua Biao’s response.
This was Shen Lian’s question just a moment ago.
"So what? What if you’re from the military?" Old Xu did not act impulsively and continued to stay hidden.
"Haha, I just want to have a candid talk with you. We have no other purpose in coming here; just looking to bunk for a night. You know night driving isn’t very safe, and we’ve traveled far to find this relatively suitable place."
The other party’s tone is sincere; in normal times, Old Xu might indeed agree, but in these apocalyptic times, how could he believe them based solely on their words?
"How many of you are there in total?"
"Around a dozen or so, we are the advance unit, the main division is behind us."
"Since night driving is unsafe, why didn’t you stay with the main division?" Old Xu interrogated sharply.
"I said we’re the advance unit, scouting ahead to guide the following troops."
It makes sense; the response from the other side indeed aligns with the military’s usual strategy.
"Brother, we’re just looking to bunk for a night and we’ll leave in the morning."
He reiterates his request again, showing considerable persistence.
From what Old Xu extracted from their words so far, there’s nothing particularly off.
Whether it’s attire, vehicles, or speech, their equipment matches military conduct.
If they really are military personnel, Old Xu genuinely wants to establish contact.
Firstly, he himself is a military man, and regardless of how circumstances change, Old Xu can’t forget this root.
He is very concerned about the current situation of the troops, and also hopes to take this opportunity to understand the situation of the world from them.
After all, from what they said, they clearly aren’t a small unit.
To maintain such a unit’s operation, it is impossible without strong logistical support.
Thus, Old Xu speculates that the government has resumed operations.
If so, Old Xu does not want to miss the chance to collect information.
Secondly, Old Xu also wants to get some supplies and equipment from them.
After all, he is part of the Sharp Blade Company, part of the system, and believes requesting some weapons and ammunition should be reasonable.
Thirdly, Old Xu wants to inquire whether there are any official organized large shelters around their base.
While Old Xu may not lead the team there, many team members have been separated from their families after the apocalypse, and they may very well be in various shelters.
If he can get the locations of these shelters, once the base is stabilized, Old Xu plans to start helping team members find their families.
This has always been one of their team’s two main objectives.
The first objective of finding a home is being tentatively achieved, next is finding their families.
However, these ideas are just Old Xu’s thoughts.
Indeed, as he analyzed, the current conduct of the other side resembles the military, but it still can’t confirm they’re military personnel.
And even if they are, it doesn’t assure they’re good people.
Although saying this tarnishes the image of Huaxia soldiers, this is an unavoidable reality.
Every country, every military has bad apples, rats.
When these people encounter the apocalypse, rather than serving the country or the people, they become a group of individuals with special abilities - "garbage."
It is based on this consideration that Old Xu contemplated for a moment and came up with a compromise.
"OK! I’ve heard your request, but I can’t give you an answer right now. I need to discuss it with my team."
"No problem, we can wait." The man replied very casually, with no hint of forcefulness.
"Then I need you to come with me; we need to talk face to face. How about it? Do you have the courage?" Skillfully employing a challenge tactic, if the other side is indeed military personnel with no ill intent, Old Xu believes they shouldn’t refuse.
After nearly half a minute of waiting, seeing the other side still not responding, Old Xu provoked again.